Glasses Girl
by Shihanne
Summary: [DA02] What did it take for a girl to grow up into a woman?
1. April 2003 - Miyako Start

**April 2003 - Miyako Start**

* * *

_How are you doing, everyone? Inoue Miyako here!_

_Hm, I guess there aren't a lot of interesting things to say right now. We recently defeated Diablomon again, and that was pretty cool, but other than that there hasn't been a lot going on. I am starting middle school, though! It already feels really different from elementary school, but in the end, school is school, isn't it?_

_Well, I guess that's it for now!_

* * *

The idea of "coming of age" in such a brief story was always such a cliché. Sometimes you could live for long periods of time without changing at all. Sometimes you could be one person one year and a completely different one the next. Every so often someone would tell you that you'd entered a new chapter of your life, and you'd believe them up until your life started settling into a daily schedule that wasn't all so different from what you were used to.

Middle school, Miyako had decided, was not very different from elementary school.

Sure, there were uniforms, there was the computer club headed by Koushirou, there were the somewhat more difficult lessons, but school was school. Schedule-wise, the only one thing different that Miyako acknowledged as somewhat significant was that, now that she was a member of the middle school computer club, it was harder to hang out with Daisuke and the others after school. It was convenient to be on a campus close to them, but it simply wasn't as easy as it had been back when they'd all gone together to Odaiba Elementary.

She'd fallen into a pretty easy schedule after a while: get up in the morning, meet up with Iori and Takeru, walk to school together, split to their respective schools, have lessons, attend club, have a wild card at the end of the day (varying from leaving early to meet with the others or just waiting for Iori and Takeru, saying goodbye to everyone briefly, and going home), eat dinner with family, go to bed. On rare occasions, she would join the others to check out the Digital World. There wasn't much to do nowadays there, but it was always pleasant just being there, especially for Hawkmon and the other Digimon. On weekends, she and the others – often joined by Ken – would hang out somewhere, usually at someone's place.

In the end, her school life was still pretty similar to what it had been before…and yet there was something that felt distinctly different about what was going on now.

* * *

It was a relatively idyllic day in the computer club, with the group working on a project. The first interruption to Miyako's workflow was a casual "Hey, Miyako" from the boy next to her.

"What is it?"

"Why do you keep going off to hang out with those elementary school kids?"

Miyako gave an unimpressed "hmph". She didn't like this boy; during her first day in this club, he'd made a remark about not expecting the student Koushirou had been talking so well of to be a girl, and immediately Miyako had decided she was going to spend the rest of the year trying to kick his ass. "They're my friends. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Well, they're elementary school students…"

"So what? They'll be in middle school eventually, so I don't see a problem."

"They're still elementary school students. You should hang around people more your age."

"Hey, hey…" said Koushirou, interjecting into the conversation. "Ah, Miyako-kun, can you please deliver this?" He handed Miyako a form.

Miyako took the form and promptly ran out of the room, very happy to not be in there anymore.

* * *

"Miyako-san!"

Miyako was greeted in the hallway by none other than Takeru, Patamon, and Hawkmon.

"Ah! Hawkmon! Takeru-kun!"

Takeru walked up to Miyako and handed her something, which Miyako suspected had ohagi in it. "Here, Iori-kun told me to give you this. Is the computer club treating you well?"

"Hm, well, the computer club's the computer club. There are interesting people and people I don't like as much. But with Izumi-senpai as captain, I think you could say everything's going well." She sighed. "I wish I could keep you around…"

"Miyako-san, can we go to the Digital World sometime soon?"

"Of course! We haven't been there too recently, have we? I've been missing it myself."

"I'd be open to going," said Takeru. "And I'm sure the others would, too."

"Then it's settled! Bingo!"

She grinned at Takeru and ran off with Hawkmon, only yelling back a "tell Iori-kun I said thank you for the ohagi!"

Takeru blinked, wanting to yell back at Miyako that she was taking Hawkmon back to the computer room where everyone would see him, and sighed. She'd probably figure out a way to deal with it…that was how Miyako worked, anyway.


	2. August 2003 - Second Memorial

**August 2003 - Second Memorial**

* * *

_Hey! Inoue Miyako here!_

_It's summer break, so I've mostly been spending time hanging out with my friends. This isn't to say we're not busy, though! There are lots of crazy things happening in the Digital World, and more and more Chosen Children are popping up each day. Izumi-senpai's going left and right trying to get them help as soon as possible, so it's tough._

_Still, we're doing well! Everyone's always working hard, so it's reassuring. We are the Chosen Children, after all – there aren't a lot of things that can get in our way for long!_

_I guess that's it. Bye for now!_

* * *

"Taichi-senpai!"

Daisuke waved cheerily, leading Miyako, Iori, Takeru, and Hikari behind him. Taichi greeted them, in turn having Yamato, Sora, and Jou with him.

"Eh? Isn't Mimi-oneesama coming?" said Miyako.

"It's still an awkward time in America, but she'll be here in a minute," said Sora.

"Ken's not here yet, either," said Daisuke. "Honestly, he's _always_ late…"

As if on cue, Mimi and Ken came in running from different directions, apologizing in their own ways – Mimi casually and cheerfully brushing it off in her bubbly manner and Ken apologizing for causing them to wait.

"Well, well. Is everyone here? We'll get going, then," said Taichi.

They started to walk through a path of trees, following Taichi's lead. Taichi was following the path rather confidently, with all the other trailing behind.

"Taichi, where are we going?" asked Yamato.

"You'll see, you'll see!"

They continued walking after a fashion until they reached a clearing in the forest. Taichi grinned and sat down cross-legged right in the middle of it.

"We're here!"

"Eh?" Daisuke started inspecting the area around him. "What's so special about this place?"

Taichi grinned with the smile that he always gave when he was very, very proud with himself. "This is a place where something amazing happened four years ago…"

"Oh! I remember!" said Jou.

Before he could continue and explain what exactly he had just remembered, a crowd of Digimon ran towards them – Agumon and the others, running towards the group to greet them.

The older Chosen Children embraced their partners, and the younger ones took some time to enjoy the scene before Daisuke managed to ask "…so, Taichi-san…what's the important part of this place?"

Taichi laughed and gave his cheerful smile again, and Agumon answered for him.

"This is where Taichi and I first met!"

* * *

If it hadn't been for the significance of the location, it would have been easy to miss. It was simply a small clearing in the forest, nothing too special – yet there was a sort of heaviness in the air.

Four years prior, in 1999...four years prior, Agumon, then a Koromon, had met Taichi for the first time. Seven Digimon had met their seven human partners, creating a bond that could never be broken.

"So this is where it all started, huh…" Daisuke looked around. "That must have been quite a shock for Taichi-san, falling out of the sky like that, only to see something like that…"

"Come to think of it, I think it'd be more accurate to say that Miyako-san found me rather than me finding Miyako-san," said Hawkmon.

"Hm, I suppose you're right," said Miyako. Indeed, over a year ago, she'd journeyed to that temple with Iori, Sora, and Koushirou. Yet somehow, such a place like that felt so…grandiose compared to this humble clearing in the middle of the forest.

They quickly set up picnic there and ate, with the senior Chosen Children and their Digimon waxing nostalgic about things. Miyako watched and listened with interest, but there was something nagging at her...

"You need to stop thinking that way, Miyako-chan."

"Eh?"

Mimi came up from behind Miyako and giggled. "You were thinking something silly like how impressive-sounding we are, right?"

"I…something like that."

"It's written all over your face." She came close to Miyako and whispered. "Look at Ichijouji-kun."

Miyako looked at Ken and Daisuke, who were listening to some story Taichi was telling about food and camping out near an unstable cliffside. Ken was completely and utterly all ears – _ah, yes, he wasn't able to learn about this last year, for obvious reasons _– while Daisuke threw in a comment once in a while about how cool Taichi was.

"He looks pretty interested, don't you think? Yet it's been a little under a year since we became friends with him and we still don't know a lot about him. And to be honest, I still think there's something I'd like to know." She winked. "So…would you be interested in telling me about your little adventures from last year?"

"M-me? But I don't think it's all that interesting compared to…"

"And I told you, you need to stop thinking that way. You and everyone here ended up saving the Digital World and our world in the end after all, didn't we? So we're all the same, we're all Chosen Children."

"I would be interested in what you have to tell us, too, Miyako-kun," said Koushirou.

Miyako paused nervously for a moment, but eventually started with a random story about how she and Daisuke had accidentally caused some damage to a Punimon village. Soon after, Daisuke chimed in with his take on the story, and before long it was the six of them telling their long-winded anecdotes to the others.

And that was when Miyako realized that she really did have a story to tell, after all.


	3. January 2004 - The Best Ramen

January 2004 – The Best Ramen

* * *

_It's me, Inoue Miyako!_

_Hey, hey, did you know? Yamato-senpai's band, the TEEN-AGE WOLVES, is still hard at work – and I'm still hard at work helping them out! Of course, it's not easy all of the time…and don't tell Yamato-senpai I said this, but man, sometimes his music is hard to work with!_

_Still, it's a lot of fun, and besides, I always end up getting it done anyway. That said, the band has a big thing coming up soon, so we're hard at work. It's a lot of stress to deal with, but…well, you know me, I always find a way to pull through._

_Well, then, I'd better get back to work!_

* * *

Miyako, Hawkmon, and Yamato arrived at Daisuke's door at late afternoon. Daisuke welcomed them in warmly, as if they were regular visitors.

"Thanks for letting us use the computer, Daisuke," said Miyako. "It's really annoying how so few people have a computer with what we need on it…"

"Have you asked Koushirou-san yet?"

"I did, but he's busy today. As always…"

Jun, who was on the phone with someone, barely poked her head out of a nearby door, said, "Oh, is Miyako-chan here? Welcome," and closed the door again. Miyako had a feeling she hadn't even seen her or Yamato there.

"Ah, well. Can't be helped. Anyway, the computer's over here."

Daisuke led them over to the computer, where they started hammering at work at the computer trying to figure out whatever it was that Yamato's band needed. At first, Daisuke and Chibimon took interest in what they were doing, but after three hours (and lots of agitated yelling on Miyako's part) Chibimon eventually became bored and so Daisuke decided to take him out to play. Telling them to call for him if they needed anything, he left the room with Chibimon.

* * *

Three hours later, Daisuke came back to check on them, only to find the situation the same as ever – Miyako getting progressively more irritated at the computer and Yamato trying to calm her down. Amused, Daisuke sat down next to Miyako.

"What's the problem?"

"I'd like to explain it to you, but I don't think you'd be able to understand it since you're not familiar with music software."

"Eh, that's a shame." Daisuke continued watching the screen intently, but sure enough, he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

A few minutes later, Miyako's stomach started growling.

"Ehehehe…" said Miyako, a bit embarrassed.

"Miyako-san, you haven't eaten for several hours," said Hawkmon.

"I guess I got kind of distracted and all into it…" said Miyako.

"We should definitely get a bite to eat," said Yamato. "Should we all go and get something?"

"No, no, wait a minute," Daisuke said with a wide grin. "You all came here, so I should be the one to treat you! You stay here and keep working. I'll be right back!"

He picked up Chibimon and dashed out towards the kitchen. Miyako, Hawkmon, and Yamato could only blink before getting back to work.

* * *

They exited the room when they heard Daisuke calling to them from the kitchen. As soon as they entered, they saw Daisuke with a large pot and three bowls.

"…Eh? Daisuke? What's this?"

"Ramen, of course! I've been working on my skills making it, so I wanted you guys to try it." He poured the soup and noodles into the bowls, put them on a tray, and carried them to the table, still looking very satisfied with himself.

"Ramen, huh? Well, I remember you saying you wanted to be a ramen cart owner, so I guess this is the first step," said Yamato.

"It's not just being a ramen cart owner," said Daisuke. "It can't just be good ramen, it has to be the best ramen in the world. So here, have some!" He spread out the bowls on the table.

"Daisuke put all of his effort into it," said Chibimon.

"You should be honored, you know, having the best ramen in the world!" said Daisuke.

"That's quite a tall order, Daisuke," said Miyako as she took the bowl. "Let's eat!"

Miyako stuffed the first bite of noodles into her mouth. Immediately, she realized there wasn't much she could say about it. How could one describe ramen like this? Such a thing seemed like an impossible task. Perhaps if she could force herself, she could come up with -

- something like "incredibly mediocre".

A quick look up at Yamato confirmed that similar thoughts were going through his head, as well.

Daisuke was easily able to figure out what they were thinking, but he continued laughing anyway. "…Not that delicious, eh?"

"Well, I mean, it's pretty good, I mean we're not trying to say it's bad – "

" – it's so-so," said Miyako.

"You're so blunt, Miyako-san," said Hawkmon.

But Daisuke only laughed, clearly undeterred.

"Well, well, I'm not expecting to get it perfectly right on the first try." He ate some noodles out of his own bowl. "Hm, I probably should have cooked it a little less…"

"So then you probably shouldn't have called it the 'best ramen in the world'…"

"Hm, but I don't like to think of it that way." He stuffed a few more slurps of noodles into his mouth and swallowed before continuing. "I mean, I think it would be more accurate to say it's not the best ramen in the world _yet_. Because unless I think it definitively has to be the best, I won't be as motivated to get there, right?"

He smiled cheerfully.

"D-Daisuke, I wasn't expecting you to say something like that," said Miyako – she and Yamato seemed taken aback by Daisuke saying some kind of thoughtful life-reflecting statement.

"Eh? Well, that's just what I've been thinking, so…"

"Hey, hey, we're not knocking you," said Yamato, eating some of the condiments Daisuke had carefully put in the soup. "Keep that line of thought and you'll go somewhere far."

"You think?"

Daisuke quickly dug back into his ramen, and Miyako couldn't help but marvel on how simple-minded he was. But Yamato was right – it was hard not to see Daisuke somehow pulling it off with that attitude of his.


	4. July 2004 - The Egg Problem

July 2004 - The Egg Problem

* * *

_Hey! Inoue Miyako here!_

_Did you know I've started to get into lavender-scented things? They're especially good in the bath. Just a little bit, not too much to the point where it gets overwhelming, but a little amount of scent – ah, it's heavenly!_

_I recommend you try it too. And if you like it, you should tell everyone else about it!_

_Tell me when you have, okay, okay?_

* * *

Miyako cheerily hummed as she turned on the bath water. It seemed like there was little capable of lowering her spirits at this point, as her disposition seemed to be at maximum that day.

What _did_ catch her off guard, however, was a sudden pounding on the door. Rather irritated, Miyako yelled "I'm busy!" at it.

The pounding continued, sounding rather frantic.

Sighing in exasperation, Miyako quickly put on the rest of her clothes on and yanked open the door with the demeanor of a cat who'd had its food suddenly and violently pulled from it.

"Really, what do you need so badly?"

Behind the door happened to be Miyako's older brother, Mantarou, and under normal circumstances Miyako would have snapped at him for interrupting her, that he didn't have to pound so hard, that it had better be something good, blah blah blah – at the very least, she would have sighed deeply and given him "what is it _now_?"

This was not a normal circumstance.

Mantarou, looking half-bemused and half-panicked, was holding a large egg in his hands.

* * *

"So it finally happened…"

Miyako and Mantarou stared at the egg that they'd placed in the middle of the table, as if their piercing stares would somehow cause it to spontaneously hatch. The egg, naturally, did nothing.

"But man, this isn't even fair. Why didn't I get it pre-hatched like the other people in this family did?"

"At least you didn't end up getting chased by some wild Digimon like Chi-neesan and Momo-neesan did. That was a nightmare…" Miyako looked sideways at Hawkmon, who also seemed to be inspecting the egg. "Know anything about the egg, Hawkmon?"

"Unfortunately, no. There doesn't seem to be anything about it that I can recognize."

"That's a shame…" Mantarou laid his head on the table lazily. "But you know…there's you, and Chizuru, and Momoe…and now me. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do after this…"

"All we can do is wait and see what it hatches into," said Hawkmon.

"Miyako," said Mantarou, "you're the one who's the veteran here, right?"

"I guess I wouldn't really call myself a veteran. I'm still learning, you know." Miyako casually poked the egg, even though it still did nothing.

"But you know more than the rest of us do. Because this whole idea of a Digimon…something's not going to come out of that egg, and I don't really know what I'm going to do once it does. Like…how do you take care of Digimon and all that…"

Miyako pouted and sighed. She wished Hikari were around with her informational video, but there wasn't much she could do.

"Well, I don't think 'taking care' of your Digimon would really be the best way to describe it, you know? I mean, I think Hawkmon here is pretty good at handling himself. Except when it comes to food, that is. He's a living black hole of expensive Japanese food."

"Miyako-san…"

"But anyway, I don't think taking care of a Digimon partner should be a problem. I think what matters more should be your relationship with it."

"Hmm…" Mantarou sighed and looked at Hawkmon. "So then, Hawkmon…what do you think would be your relationship with Miyako?"

Hawkmon thought about it for a minute. Miyako was aware he could say anything he liked, and she trusted him to tell the truth.

"Sometimes there are times when I'm worried if Miyako-san really knows what she's doing, and I advise her to do something different. And sometimes she listens to me, and sometimes she doesn't. But I know I understand Miyako-san's feelings with everything she does, so I can tell she does everything with good intentions. That's what I love most about her, so…in the end, I think I can say I understand her very deeply."

"You talk so well, Hawkmon…" said Miyako. "So, I guess…well, I guess you can say he takes care of me more than I take care of him. He does keep me in check all the time, so I'm grateful for that."

"So that's how it is, then…"

"You can ask Chi-neesan and Momo-neesan about it later, I'm sure they have other things to say," said Miyako.

Mantarou looked back at the egg. It still did nothing – it was hard to believe that this indeed contained a Digimon and wasn't some kind of elaborate prop with how still it is. Still, an egg was an egg – there wasn't much one could expect an egg to do, for now.

"So I just wait for it to hatch and…hope for the best? I'm not sure if I'm not ready for this kind of commitment…"

"It's not something you should worry too much about. At least not until you end up having to save the world or something…"

"Eh, it can't be that hard. I mean, _you_ pulled it off, so it can't be that bad for me."

"…hey!"

"I'm joking, I'm joking. It's not fair if my little sister gets to be the one experienced in all this and I don't get to tease her." He picked up the egg and headed towards his room. "I wonder if this egg will hatch faster if I sit on it…"

"Nii-_san_!"

Mantarou pulled a teasing gesture and went back into his room. Miyako sighed.

"I hope he doesn't end up having to save the world after all…"

"He probably will get called to do at least something," said Hawkmon.

"Yeah. Well, I guess that's all up to him." Miyako sighed. "I really need a nice, warm bath…"


	5. May 2005 – Utterly Confused

May 2005 – Utterly Confused

* * *

Daisuke had started to get rather irritated about the fact they were still going to the Digital World through the Odaiba Elementary computer room, even though Miyako had explained to him multiple times that it would still be easier for them to go through this way, especially when Iori still attended this school, et cetera, et cetera.

"Iori's only going to be here for one more year, and then we'll have no reason to be here at all…" griped Daisuke.

"Well, whatever. Digital Gate, open! Chosen Children, let's roll!"

* * *

There wasn't more to this trip to the Digital World than the fact they were carrying out what was actually a "routine trip" – after all, the Digimon were more native to the Digital World, and the Chosen Children themselves felt more and more that it made up another version of "home" with every passing day.

"Hey, is Ken coming?" said Daisuke.

"I sent him an email," said Hikari, "saying he can come if he's interested, but he hasn't responded yet."

"He's probably studying again," said Miyako.

"I told him not to be so stressed about things…" said Daisuke. "Oh, well. As long as he's not overdoing it. I've gotten the feeling lately he actually _likes_ studying, just a little…"

The plan for the day involved doing some ruins exploring – in all honesty, the past year had just been unbridled exploring for the group. They were only able to do a little at a time, since for the Chosen Children currently in middle school, juggling schoolwork was difficult – but they still did it, and with every day that passed the Digital World seemed tantalizingly bigger. Occasionally one of the Chosen Children in high school (and, at one point, even Jou from his university) would drop by, tagging along for the ride.

But for the day, it was just the small group of five people, out for an idle daily adventure.

* * *

"Ah, I'm tired. Let's call it a day…"

Daisuke yawned and stretched his arms a little. "But you know, it was hard getting around that place. It's almost like the place kept changing every time we made a turn…"

"Knowing what we've been through before, it probably wouldn't have been surprising if it had made perfect sense," said Takeru.

"True, but…"

They were interrupted by the sudden sound of distant screaming, from what sounded like the voice of a young girl. The group looked in the direction of the scream, and only a silent nod between all of them was necessary to confirm what they wanted to do before they all started heading towards it.

Along the way, they ran into none other than Ken, who was writing an email on his D-Terminal. The expression he gave them upon their arrival immediately informed them that he had been writing to them, probably asking to meet up.

"…ah!"

"Hey, Ken!" said Daisuke, who seemed to be positively beaming at having run into Ken after all. "Finally decided to come out and see the sunshine, eh? How have the books been?"

"Ken-chan likes taking breaks once in a while, you know!" said Wormmon.

Ken laughed, looking positively radiant (or, at least, in Miyako's opinion). "Well, it's good to study well, but it's not good to overdo it, and Wormmon suggested coming…"

"Good thing you ran into us, then!" said Miyako.

"Hey, Ken," said Daisuke. "We heard some people over there. Know anything about it?"

"No, I just got here…"

"Then let's go check it out!"

Daisuke pushed Ken along as he ran towards the scene, causing Ken to momentarily become startled before he smiled and went with it. Hikari couldn't help but giggle, as did Miyako.

* * *

The group soon came upon what looked like some kids getting chased by what looked like a horde of angry Monochromon. The kids themselves didn't look much older than elementary school-age, and they seemed to be more than a little panicked as they and what looked like their Digimon partners fled.

"…This reminds me of something," said Miyako.

"Shut up," replied a rather disgruntled Daisuke.

"…They seem to be in a rather desperate situation," said Iori. "Should we go in and help?"

"I don't think intervening would require more than our Digimon's Adult forms," said Ken. "Daisuke?"

Daisuke thought about it for a few seconds.

"…Let's just see what'll happen."

This elicited a mass reaction of "eh?" from the rest of the group (except Ken, who seemed to have already accepted the fact that Daisuke probably had some kind of strange reason).

"Daisuke-kun," said Takeru, "we can't just leave them like this…"

"I know, I know." Daisuke smiled mischievously. "If things look really bad, we'll take care of it. But for now, let's just see what's going on."

Thus, Daisuke led the group in sneaking behind the bushes to follow the fleeing kids, who seemed to be far too distracted by the incoming Monochromon to even notice them. Periodically Ken would turn to Daisuke and ask if it was okay to keep observing, but Daisuke continued to insist on staying back.

At one point, however, one of the kids' Digimon, a rather frail-looking Kamemon, tripped over from what looked like presumably exhaustion, and Daisuke's instinct of common sense finally overtook his desire to watch the spectacle.

"Digimental Up!"

Daisuke charged in speeding on Lighdramon to fetch the Kamemon and get him back to his partner. Understanding this as the cue to go on, Ken led the others in evolving their Digimon to Adult and charging in.

* * *

"Take care of the kids for us! We'll be right back!"

It was a rather unrealistic idea that the Monochromon would simply back down once the Adult-level Digimon got involved. Still, it wasn't something too difficult for them to handle, so Daisuke and Ken had decided to herd the angry Monochromon stampede shepherd-style and get them away.

"Take care of yourselves, too!" yelled Takeru as Daisuke, Lighdramon, Ken, Stingmon led the Monochromon off.

"T-thank you…"

The boy who had been partnered with the Kamemon was panting and seemed to be quite flustered.

"Hey, hey. Are you doing all right?" said Miyako. "Not hurt or anything like that?"

"N-no."

"That's good, that's good. Are you in elementary school?"

The boy nodded. "Sixth grade."

"Hm, really? Not _that_ young, then." She looked over the group he had behind him, all of them looking exhausted. "So, what happened to get you all in trouble with those Monochromon?"

The boy (whom Miyako concluded was probably the designated leader, possibly because he was the oldest in the group since he otherwise seemed to be rather demure) lowered his head, and it was hard to make out his words. "We accidentally ran into their territory and…"

"But when you found yourself in trouble, why didn't you have your Digimon evolve?" asked Takeru.

At this point the boy suddenly went completely silent. Hikari suddenly out a small gasp of understanding. Miyako looked at her and back at the boy, and smiled at him.

"Well, you'll get the hang of it eventually, so don't worry too much about it. Are you new Chosen Children? Then you shouldn't rush into it too quickly. After all, it's been a few months since the last major incident, so it's not like you're in a big hurry or anything." She squatted down a little and smiled sweetly at them. "Besides, Digimon evolve best when you're in danger, so…the fact none of you have been in any serious danger means good things, right?"

"I wouldn't put it that way, Miyako-san…" said Hikari, stifling another giggle.

"Hey, I'm just telling it how it is!"

At that moment Daisuke and Ken returned, looking a little tired from their ordeal but looking rather satisfied with themselves.

"It should be okay now," said Ken, being carried by Stingmon. "Everyone doing okay?"

Miyako only responded with a "Ken-kun's so cool!"

"Hey, what about me?" yelled Daisuke indignantly.

* * *

The two groups parted ways. Miyako had left her email address with them, telling them that if she happened to be available and they needed help, they should feel free to drop her a line.

"But you know, you're turning into some kind of Digimon upperclassman," said Daisuke. "The image of you as an experienced Digimon senior is kind of strange…"

"Hm? And what makes you say that, huh?"

"If this keeps up, maybe Miyako-san can be some kind of an older sister figure," said Takeru.

"Hey – wait – aren't we going a little too quickly with this?"

Miyako sighed in exasperation as everyone else started laughing.


End file.
